Houston Rockets: 3 takeaways from Game 2 vs. Jazz

3. Jazz show their depth, get big bench performance

With Utah missing point guard Ricky Rubio, the offense needed to change a bit. Donovan Mitchell could no longer be just a scorer, and the rest of the supporting cast needed to step up the scoring department.

In Game 2, Utah was able to do just that.

Now don’t get things twisted here. Mitchell tried to score Wednesday, but had limited success. His struggles, however, brought a different type of beauty to Utah’s victory and the Rockets’ challenge going forward.

Mitchell took on the role of facilitator in Game 2, dishing out 11 assists. He gave the Rockets much more to think about defensively while also setting a Jazz rookie record.

Mitchell’s performance was quite the gem, as not many would have predicted a Jazz win with him only finishing with 17 points. But as the greats normally do, Mitchell provided a different aspect of his game to shine.

If Mitchell’s floor presence wasn’t enough, the Jazz showed once again why their success doesn’t revolve around one or two players. The Jazz outscored the Rockets bench 41-22, getting big performances from Jae Crowder, Alec Burks and Dante Exum (remember him?).

https://twitter.com/nba_au/status/991906131642478592?s=21

These are the types of performances you expect from role players at home, not in a road playoff game facing a potential 0-2 deficit. If the Rockets want to have better success going forward, it’s clear that focusing on one or two guys can’t be their game plan.